District 5, why bother?

[RevRiders]

Keep in mind that there is little to no rideing in the north till the end of January waiting for the ice to build.

I am a proud volunteer in D5 and last year we got 5 weeks of local rideing then we started goin north..for us thats is

one of the high lights of the sport seeing different parts of the province..just my 2 cents

[Bryan XC700]

I personally have no choice and have to trailer to trail ride at all. District 5 is a great area to ride in but unfortunately the way the weather is changing its less and less every year. Snow is at a minimum everywhere this season, but this has to be the worst year ever for places like Warwick and Strathroy. Both areas that used to get tonnes of snow all winter. I have even thought myself, why bother. Lets just hope next season is better.

I'm in the same boat as f3800, seeing as he's only 20 minutes away from me. I bought 2 permits this year & haven't had the sleds on the trails yet. Honestly I haven't ridden in D5 for 7+ years, Glencoe which is the closest trails for me was only open 1 weekend this year so far.

I agree that this year has been a strange one, usually we can't ride at our cottage till February or March because the ice had to much snow on it before it was safe, now this year its the opposite, all sorts of ice but no snow, apparently the lake trails are good but the land trails are bad because the isn't enough snow to cover all the rocks.

Thanks to all the volunteers, because if it wasn't for them taking time & staking fields in D5 there wouldn't be any riding at all.

I'm hoping to head to Walkerton next weekend for the first ride of the year.

[LondonCalling]

If you buy a trail permit and your club never opens their trails (due to weather) what happens to the permit fee???

District 5 is a joke for snow, I don't understand why there is even a trail system down here. All my trips so far this year have been 3-4 hours north, so it seems kind of ridiculous that my permit fee didn't go towards supporting those clubs. One thing I know for sure is that I won't be bying permits locally anymore.

Sorry for the rant. I know that you can't control the weather, but why bother even having a District 5?

Things can vary to the extreme even within a district. Just after new years this year I rode 6 times always over 100mi just west on London and north until the meltdown. The weather ticks me off every year as my holidays are between Christmas and New Years and usually no snow. I feel your agony, but will still support local.